Aussie Wearn takes 8-point lead into ILCA 7 World Championship Medal Race
by Michael Martin 30 Jan 22:20 NZDT
24-31 January 2024
Matt Wearn at the 2024 ILCA 7 World Championships © Jack Fletcher / Down Under Sail
Tokyo Olympic Champion Matt Wearn sits in the box seat at the ILCA 7 World Championships, with a dream day today ensuring he will be wearing the leader's gold bib heading into tomorrow's final double points Medal Race.
Wearn posted a second and a fourth in today's two Gold Fleet races, allowing him to open an 8-point lead over Norwegian Hermann Tomasgaard with British sailor Micky Beckett just one point further back.
Those three have a big enough gap on the rest of the field that they are assured of being on the dais after tomorrow's Medal Race, with that result to determine who stands on which step.
It was a wild day on the water in Adelaide, with winds ticking over 25 knots and waves of over a meter - conditions the Perth-based sailor is familiar with.
"It was a big breeze day and it was all to play for," said Wearn. "In this sort of stuff where it is getting up to 25 knots you really have to sail your own race. You can keep an eye on the other guys but at the end of the day you just have to execute and fight like hell really.
"I just had to back that I was fast enough in this sort of stuff and that the fitness was there."
Wearn knows that the regatta is far from over. Beckett held a 9-point lead going into the Medal Race at last year's Paris Olympic Test Event before Wearn overcame him to snatch Gold.
"I think I put a little bit of a points buffer going into the Medal Race," continued Wearn. "Every point counts at this point of the regatta."
Fellow Western Australian Luke Elliott was another Aussie who enjoyed today's conditions, he finished fifth and twelfth in the two races to qualify for the Medal Race in ninth.
"We had some of the windiest conditions any of the fleet would have raced in for a while today," said Elliott. "There were 25-30 knots which was heaps of fun and extremely physical. It was also super sea weedy and sketchy downwind with steep waves, but glad to have stayed consistent today even though I'm not sailing my best."
Coach Rafa Trujillo was pleased for Wearn, but echoed his charge's sentiments about finishing the job tomorrow.
"It's difficult to have a better day, but now we need to recover and prepare for the Medal Race to try to defend our position," said Trujillo.
"We are in the lead, but we still need to keep our focus and sail as well as we have throughout the rest of the championship."
There were other positive results for Australian Sailing Squad athletes on the day, with Finn Alexander posting a seventh, Ethan McAullay a thirteenth and Zac Littlewood a fifteenth. All five Aussies are placed in the top twenty-three.
"I just didn't quite have the speed to sit with the top guys and that kind of cost me a few boats here and there," said Littlewood after racing.
"There is one more race tomorrow where I can hopefully come inside the top twenty and finish the week off on a good note."
The weather looks favourable again tomorrow, with similar breezes predicted for the Gold Fleet race at Midday and the Medal Race getting their warning signal at 2:30pm ACDT.
Visit the event website for more details or see full results here.
Australian Sailing Team (AST), Australian Sailing Squad (ASS) and Australian Sailing Futures (ASF) results at the 2024 ILCA 7 World Championships:
Gold Fleet:
1st - Matt Wearn (AST/WA) - 6, 1, 2, 2, 1, 3, (11), 1, 2, 4 (22 pts)
2nd - Hermann Tomasgaard (NOR) - 1, 1, 1, 5, 5, 7, 1, 6, 3, 21 (30 pts)
3rd - Michael Beckett (GBR) - (17), 6, 1, 3, 1, 1, 3, 2, 12, 2 (31 points)
9th - Luke Elliott (ASS/WA) - 1, 2, 5, 10, 18, 10, 18, (20), 5, 12 (81 pts)
20th - Ethan McAullay (ASS/WA) - 5, 9, 1, 8, 22, 3, 28, 26, (36), 13 (115 pts)
22nd - Zac Littlewood (ASS/WA) - 12, 5, 16, 4, 12, 6, (52 BFD), 18, 32, 15 (120 pts)
23rd - Finn Alexander (ASS/NSW) - 9, 7, 11, 12, 28, 26, (41), 4, 17, 7 (121 pts)
50th - Stefan Elliott-Shircore (ASF/WA) - 16, 18, 20, 9, 42, 12, (52 BFD), 43, 29, 45 (234 pts)
Silver Fleet:
87th - Sam King (ASF/TAS) - 20, 29, 27, 26, (36), 19, 22, 33, 32, 35 (243 pts)
90th - Michael Compton (ASF/WA) - 15, 32, 23, 15, 22, 30, 35, 43, (44), 38 (253 pts)
Bronze Fleet:
103rd - Lawson McAullay (ASF/WA) - 20, 29 RDG, 34, (39), 34, 36, 4, 2, 1, 1 (161 pts)
120th - Will Sargent (ASF/TAS) - (47), 43, 35, 40, 45, 35, 9, 27, 18, 10 (262 pts)